A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of battery chargers, more specifically, a battery charger that accommodates a plurality of battery sizes as well as a plurality of each size while including a discharging unit, and charging status indicating means.
Battery chargers have been around for a long time, and serve a useful function in recharging a battery that would otherwise become trash and a burden on the environment. However, a rechargeable battery has a useful lifespan that is limited to a finite number of times that said battery can be recharged. It is well known that the overall lifespan of a battery can be affected by recharging a battery without being fully drained of a charge.
The present invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage enable the battery to be fully consumed prior to recharging in an effort to improve the overall useful lifespan of said battery.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
As a preliminary note, it should be stated that there is an ample amount of prior art that deals with battery chargers. As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses a battery charger that includes a discharging unit.
The Pfeiffer Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,702) discloses a battery charger for charging dry cell batteries in a device that can hold multiple batteries of different sizes and of different electrical needs. However, the battery charger does not include a discharging unit that removes any remaining electrical charge remaining in the battery prior to re-charging said battery in order to improve the overall life of said battery.
The Bushong et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,811) discloses a compact battery charger that holds different size batteries and multiples of each. Again, the battery charger does not include the discharging unit mentioned above, which is a unique feature of the invention of the present application.
The Floyd Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,075) discloses a device that holds and charges alkaline batteries of different sizes and electrical capabilities. However, the device does not have a plurality of different-sized charging units to accommodate batteries of differing sizes, but rather a one-size fits all charging unit.
The Cook et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,735) discloses a battery charger that can adjust to different sizes. Again, the battery charger does not have a plurality of different-sized charging units to accommodate batteries of differing sizes, but rather a one-size fits all charging unit.
The Krieger Patent Application Publication (U.S. Pub. No. 2007/0247105) discloses a portable battery charger for charging batteries of multiple sizes and power outputs. However, the battery charger has only a single slot for each battery slot as opposed to multiple charging units for multiple battery sizes.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe a battery charging system with discharging means that provides for the advantages of the battery charging system with discharging means. In this regard, the battery charging system with discharging means departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.